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Catherine of Aragon was divorced by Henry VIII against the will of the Pope and that caused a break up
with the Holy See*. The declaration of Henry VIII in 1531 that he now was Head of the Church, was an
English way of Reformation, so the Reformation in England was conducted from above by the King.
* The Holly See - святейший престол.
His second wife was Anne Boleyn (1532-1536). She gave birth to a baby-girl (her daughter was Princess
Elizabeth) that caused the disappointment of the King. No one could forsee the triumph of Elizabeth I. He
disposed of Anne accusing her of unfaithfulness, and she was beheaded. But two days before she died her
marriage was dissolved. Henry was a bachelor once more and Anne's decapitated body was buried without
ceremony in the Tower of London. Ten days later the King was married again. His third wife was Jane
Seymour. She died in 1537 soon after giving birth to a son and heir –
Prince Edward, (to become later
Edward VI) a sickly child who died of consumption in 1553 aged 15 years. Henry VIII died in 1547 and his
wife Catherine Parr survived him.
Henry VIII had a powerful adviser and a skilful minister Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who was very rich and
ambitious. But for all his efforts he failed to get the King a divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon as
the Pope did not want to anger Spain and France, two Catholic powers.
Henry was outraged with his minister and the Pope. The Power of the Catholic Church in England was out
of his authority and he wanted to control it for material and personal reasons. Though at the initial stages of the
Reformation in Europe Henry VIII had not approved of the ideas of Martin Luther and was awarded by the
Pope with the title Fidei Defensor, – Defender of the Faith. The letters "F. D." are still to be found on every
British coin.
The opposition to the Pope as a political prince but not the religious leader was growing in England and
Henry VIII started his own Reformation. Thomas Cromwel was his faithful reformer.
In 1531 Henry was elected the Head of the Church of England by the English bishops and in 1534 the
Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy declaring him the Supreme Head of the Church of England. His
Chancellor Sir Thomas More refused to recognize the Act and that cost him his life – he was charged with high
treason and executed in the Tower.
With the help of his new Chancellor Thomas Cromwell Henry VIII ordered to suppress the monasteries, he
captured the wealth of the monasteries that had been dissolved and destroyed. The lands of the monasteries
were either sold or given to the new supporters who turned out to be enthusiastic protestants all of a sudden.
Within a few years an enormous wealth went into the empty treasury of the King.
In 1536 he managed to unite Wales with England, as the Welsh nobility were showing interest in the support
of their representative on the English throne. It was the first Act of Union in the history of Britain.
His beloved wife Jane Seymour left him the long-waited-for heir Prince Edward. Mary and Elizabeth had
been declared illegitimate. He wanted to achieve a betrothal of his son with the future Mary Queen of Scots
who was born when Edward was 5 years old. The Scots refused the wooing of the English King as they could
see through his far-reaching plans and sent Mary to France. On her return she became Queen of Scots (1561-
1567).